Daylight Talks at UIA 2023 World Congress in Copenhagen

During July 02-06 this year, architects from around the world will be visiting Copenhagen, appointed as the World Capital of Architecture 2023, to attend the UIA World Congress of Architects. The city will become a global forum at the forefront of discussions on contemporary urban planning and architectural issues and we are pleased to announce that Daylight Talks will present three talks in collaboration with uia2023cph. 

Daylight Talks will feature in a series of major events that will discuss architecture as a vital tool to achieve the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. 

To match the impressive agenda, Daylight and Architecture have gathered a selection of architects working at the forefront of architectural innovation and daylight including: Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, Grafton Architects (IE), recipients of the Pritzker Prize 2020, the EU Mies Award 2022 and The Daylight Award in 2022. Omar Gandhi (CA), Award winning office and viewed as one of Canada’s notable younger architects, and Dorte Mandrup (DK), receiving national and international acclaim for her work, including the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture 2022.  

Further details and dates to be announced. Stay up to date at @daylightandarchitecture on Instagram. 

Get to know the speakers of international recognition: 

05 July 2023, at 10:30 AM

YVONNE FARRELL & SHELLEY MCNAMARA
Founders, Grafton Architects 

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara co-founded Grafton Architects in 1978, having graduated from University College Dublin in 1974. They are Fellows of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI); International Honorary Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA); members of Aosdána; Professors at the Academia in Mendrisio, Switzerland. In 2018, they were the Curators of the Venice Architecture Biennale with their manifesto: Freespace. Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell were the 2020 recipients of the Pritzker Prize. 

Senior Directors Gerard Carty and Philippe O’Sullivan have been with the practice since 1992. They are accomplished teachers and architects and play a central role in the life of the practice. 

Grafton Architects’ numerous awards include: The inaugural RIBA International Prize for the Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC) in Lima, Peru in 2016; the RIAI Gold Medal for Bocconi University, Milan; the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2020; L’ Équerre d’argent Prize for best building in France with Vigneau Zilio Architectes for Toulouse School of Economics; Kingston University London – Town House won the RIBA 2021 Stirling Prize. Recently completed projects – all won by international competition – include: The Marshall Institute, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, for the London School of Economics; Headquarters for Electricity Supply Board (ESB) with OMP architects in Dublin; Institute Mines Telcom , Paris/ Saclay, France. In April 2022, it was announced that Kingston University London – Town House won the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies Van der Rohe Award 2022. 

Recently completed projects – all won by international competition – include: The Marshall Institute, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, for the London School of Economics; Headquarters for Electricity Supply Board (ESB) with OMP architects in Dublin; Institute Mines Telcom , Paris/ Saclay, France. 

04 July 2023, at 08:30 AM

DORTE MANDRUP
Founder, Creative Director, Adjunct Professor & Architect MAA 

Danish architect Dorte Mandrup founded her studio in 1999, eight years after graduating from Aarhus School of Architecture. Studies in both sculpture and natural sciences have influenced her approach, which has always been ‘hands-on’, materialising in deep, contextual analysis and explorative prototyping. Her Copenhagen-based studio employs an artistic, humanistic, and scientific approach to create generous designs that are pushing the boundaries of form and materiality. In close interaction with her team, Dorte Mandrup is solving complex problems and orchestrating designs that are playful, original, and poetic. 

She is internationally recognised for creating architecture in synergy with the context, enhancing the awareness and the experience of the place. In recent years this has distinguished her in the architectural field with extraordinary projects like The Whale 300 kilometres North of the Arctic Circle in Norway, the Exile Museum at Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin and the Icefjord Centre, slightly levitating over the Greenlandic wilderness The passion and experience working in sensitive contexts has resulted in winning designs for public buildings in five UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

As a consistent critic, Dorte Mandrup is well known for her commitment to the development of the architectural practice. She headlined the curated international exhibition at La Biennale de Venezia in 2018, chaired the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award in 2019, is Vice Chairman of the board of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, member of the architecture section in Akademi der Künste, Honorary Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Architecture, Design and Conservation and holds frequent visiting professorships – now at the renowned Accademia de Architettura de Mendrisio in Switzerland. 

03 July 2023, at 13:45PM

OMAR GANDHI
Architect & Principal, Omar Gandhi Architects 

Omar Gandhi is the Principal of Omar Gandhi Architects, an architectural practice founded in 2010 with small teams in both Halifax and Toronto. 

In its early years, the studio was awarded the Canada Council for the Arts Professional Prix de Rome, was included in Wallpaper* Magazine’s Architects Directory, and Omar himself was named as one of Monocle Magazine’s ‘Most Influential Canadians’. Omar was chosen as one of the Architectural League of New York’s ‘Emerging  Voices’ of 2016 and in 2018, was appointed the Louis I. Kahn visiting Assistant Professorship in Architectural Design at the Yale School of Architecture. 

Most recently, Omar Gandhi Architects was the recipient of a 2018 Governor General’s Medal in Architecture for its work on Rabbit Snare Gorge and honored as the only Canadian practice in Architectural Record Magazine’s 2018 Design Vanguard. In 2020, the studio was part of the team awarded the new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and in 2021, completed the revitalization of one of Canada’s most Iconic landmarks, Peggy’s Cove. 

Omar was made a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Association of Canada in 2022.